Tillotson College begins classes

*Tillotson College began education classes on this date in 1881. Now known as Huston-Tillotson University (HTU), it is one of over 100 Historically Black Colleges and Universities in America.

Located in Austin, in its beginnings HTU was a senior college for Blacks built and maintained by the American Missionary Society of Congregational churches. It was chartered in 1877 and named for George Jeffrey Tillotson, who planned the school, selected the site, and raised $16,000 to get it started. Called Tillotson Collegiate and Normal Institute, it opened, with 250 students, mainly in the lower grades. Allen Hall was their first building, followed by Beard Hall in 1894; in 1947 there were fourteen buildings on a campus of twenty-three acres. William E. Brooks, first president (1881-85).

In 1925 the school was recognized as a junior college. It became a woman's college in 1926, and enrollment dropped to 130 in 1930. In 1931 the high school was dropped, and senior college standing was achieved. Coeducation was restored in 1935, and in 1943 the college was granted an "A" rating by the Southern Association of Colleges. In 1946 enrollment was 650, and the faculty numbered thirty-five. Three degrees were offered: B.A., B.S., and B.S. in Home Economics.

On October 24, 1952, Tillotson College officially merged with Samuel Huston College to form Huston-Tillotson College. Huston-Tillotson University became the official name of the school on February 28, 2005.